Development of Anthropometric and Physical Performance Profiles of Young Elite Male Soccer Players: A Longitudinal study

Abstract

The purpose of the present longitudinal study was to explore distinctive anthropometric and physical performance characteristics of young soccer players between the age of 11 and 14 and to reveal the performance at the age of 11, which contributes to the later success. Male players of the best national male squads of the 'cadet league' (14 years of age; n = 26) were annually tested starting from the age of 11 for body size and composition, flexibility, power, coordination, and agility. Randomly selected untrained but physically active age-matched boys (n = 63) were also tested over 4 consecutive years. The results revealed no difference between 2 groups regarding the body size and composition (p > 0.05). The differences in flexibility emerged only at the later age, whereas the differences regarding the explosive power (as assessed by various jumps) were moderate and partly inconsistent. The most prominent advantage of the soccer players over the control subjects during the entire tested age period appeared to be movement agility and coordination (p < 0.01). Therefore, the explosive muscle power and, in particular, the agility and coordination characterize elite soccer players of 11-14 years of age but not the body size and body composition. In addition, the agility and coordination could be among the crucial factors of future success in 11-year-old players and, therefore, should be used for early selection.

When Better Seems Bigger: Perceived Performance of Adult Professional Football Players Is Positively Associated With Perceptions of Their Body Size

“…Studies among youth and adolescent males of different nationalities suggest that body size contributes relatively little to variation in performance in these players and that the variation is probably mostly due to biological maturity (Beunen, Ostyn, Simons, Renson, & Van Gerven, 1981;Malina et al, 2005;Malina, Eisenmann, Cumming, Ribeiro, & Aroso, 2004;Reilly et al, 2000), as youth selections tend to favor players who are advanced in biological maturation (Coelho E Silva et al, 2010;Sarmento, Anguera, Pereira, & Araujo, 2018). Studies comparing youth and adolescent elite male soccer players to control groups did not find any differences in body size between the groups (Franks, Williams, Reilly, & Nevill, 1999;Mirkov, Kukolj, Ugarkovic, Koprivica, Vladimir & Jaric, 2010), suggesting young players' movement agility and coordination are the best predictors of future performance in soccer (Mirkov et al, 2010; however, see Gravina et al, 2008). Reilly, Bangsbo, and Franks (2000) reviewed the literature on anthropometric and physiological characteristics of adolescent and adult soccer players and concluded that it is not possible to isolate individual prerequisites for success (including height) with great confidence.…”

Longitudinal Development of Explosive Leg Power from Childhood to Adulthood in Soccer Players

“…The authors found that both stature and maturity status were significant contributors to vertical jump performance when young soccer players progress into puberty. As previously stated, several factors have an impact on muscle force development, however only a few studies have highlighted the influence of motor coordination [16,24,27]. A review by Van Praagh and Doré [43] suggested that improved movement coordination is a more important contributor to muscle force gain in complex, multi-joint exercises, such as vertical jump and sprinting.…”

The Effect of Agility Exercises on the COD Speed and Speed in Terms of the Frequency of the Training

“…Children can be given these exercises at the age of 5 to display the strategies used to acquire the suitable motor skills and these characteristics should be continued in particular during the critical development stage between the ages of 9-12 [5]. Mirkov et al (2010) have stated that agility and coordination are important factors in the future success of athletes aged 11 [17]. During this period, which provides a structure to learn movement models, timing, balance and coordination, planned exercises should be higher in number [2].…”